Halo: RODST
by Champ11
Summary: RODST are only sent on the most important and suicidal missions UNSC HighCom can come up with. The missions that are too dangerous for regular ODST and too high of a chance of losing all assets sent to send in a Spartan.
1. Chapter One: Mission Complete

**Author's Note:** Here's another one of my muses rants. Better to just get it out of the way than to fight my muse (since my muse will win). I should be working on any of my other five stories, but no. I need to add just one more…

**Disclaimer: **This is the only time I'm going to put this in the story. I don't own Halo or anything related to it. I do own the OCs, the RODST (aka Recon, or Recon ODST), the Recon bike, and the UNSC Battleship _Liberation_ (at least the idea of her).

Halo: RODST

_RODST are only sent on the most important and suicidal missions UNSC HighCom can come up with. The missions that are too dangerous for regular ODST and too high of a chance of losing all assets sent to send in a Spartan._

**Chapter One: Mission Complete**

I aimed down the scope of my sniper rifle. I checked the wind speed, the elevation to the target, the humidity, the temperature, and even factored in the Coriolis Effect. The shot needed to be perfect. I would only get one chance at this. The target needed to be taking a dirt nap before more civilians die. 'This is what I was trained for; this is what I signed up for; this one moment, this one shot. This is the culmination of everything I have strived for. I can end this fight with one shot,' I thought as the target came into my sights. The last three days spent waiting here and observing the target's movements paid off. Rule number one about being a general: never have a predictable routine while in the field. This split-lip was going to be shown the error of his ways. I breathed in and held it. The reticule rested right on his head. I gently squeezed the trigger, and the S2 went off with a silenced pop. The rifle kicked back into my shoulder and disrupted my concealment. I reset and watched as my round went down range. The Field Marshal's head ducked underneath the bullet's flight path. My heart skipped a beat, 'I'm never going get a second shot off in time! I can't believe I missed such an easy target!' I thought, mentally berating myself as my heart started to beat faster. Suddenly, the Field Marshall's head went right back into the path of the bullet and it passed right through his skull.

The 14.5 mm x 114 mm, APFSDS round passed through the Elite's shielding and head without any trouble. The head exploded into a purple gory mess. 'Scratch one squid-face' I thought as I quickly packed up what stuff I had before I slung the sniper rifle and unsung my BR55. My armor was dirty from lying in the mud for the past few days, but I left it like that since it helped conceal me as I moved back to my insertion point. 'Too easy, why didn't they just send a sniper team to do this? Why send a Recon?' I thought. The Covies were about a good two kilometers away so I didn't worry too much about them. They never send patrols this far out, at least not in the ten years I've been Recon. I'm the old man in Recon.

Ten years is unheard of in this day and age. We only get the missions that are too dangerous to send in any other kind of soldier, even the Spartans. The missions always have no less than a ninety-eight percent chance of total loss of whatever assets are sent. I've been in five missions that I have been told that I'll not becoming back and if by some miracle I do, to contact them and then they'll set up extraction. RODST, or Reconnaissance Orbital Drop Shock Troopers but better known as Recon, are the best of the best and are suicidal to boot, but want to take some Covie out with them when they go. Most RODSTs don't even make it past the first mission.

On average, we lose ninety-five percent during the first mission, and the chance gets higher and higher per mission. I'm on mission thirty-two. The rookie RODSTs look at me as if I'm a freaking Spartan. Even some of the Spartans treat me like one for their own. That might be because those that do are attached to my ship for some odd reason. There are only three that I have ever met, Spartan-090, -182, and -084. All three of them are good men, good soldiers. I've fought by them a few times and actually pity the Covies that they have to face. I never thought there would be a time where I pitied the enemy, but there it is.

As I pushed my through the brush I noticed that the air around me was shimmering slightly. I didn't even hesitate. I put a burst of fire right into the Elite's face about point blank range. The Elite let out a roar in pain as the rounds impacted, but activated a plasma sword and charged at me. I dove to the right, rolled back to my feet, and continued to beat my feet as the forest around me started to light up with plasma swords. 'Yeah, now this is a Recon op. Why did I have to go and open my big mental mouth?' I thought as I shoved my way through the brush and undergrowth of the forest. I was running as fast as I could as the Elites were getting closer and closer behind me. I then grabbed a frag and pulled the pin, all with my left hand. I then lightly tossed the grenade in front of me and started to push myself faster. I speed past it and after a few very long seconds, the grenade went off. I heard several cries of pain from the Elites behind me, but I knew that they wouldn't be down for long. They were pissed and wanted my head on a silver platter, or whatever they used to serve heads on. I blind-fired behind me as a finally ran into some open ground. I was about 250 meter from my insertion point, and I knew I had to get some distance between me and the squid-faces otherwise I wouldn't be able to extract and I'd be deep fried and very dead. I ran as fast as I could across the open ground and started to drop more grenades as I went to try and slow the split-lips down. Eventually I made it to my insertion point and saw the Recon bike I had left there was still intact.

The UNSC Recon bike was designed with RODST in mind. It is small, light, fast, and durable. It's only weapons are the missile pods attached to it. The pods are very versatile in what they can carry, whether it is two Archer missiles or several sets of smaller missiles. (A/N: Think NOD recon bike from C&C, and replace the large windshield with a normal bike one.) The bike's computer systems link up with the rider's helmet and when the rider focused on an enemy unit, airborne targets down to "wet targets" (A/N: infantry), the missiles would then lock on to the target and destroy it. That feature always came in handy, no matter the situation. The pods themselves could be removed to allow for extra equipment or room for a second rider. That always came in handy when more than one RODST was deployed to an operation, or when an objective needed to be extracted or protected. Each Recon bike was assigned to a RODST, after their fifth mission. Each is allowed to be customized to fit the style of each RODST. Mine was customized with places to hold more ammunition for every type of weapon, both human and Covie, and its panels that covered the entire bike could be switched out quickly and easily so that it could be easily camouflaged to match the environment. I have even asked a few tech-head friends of mine, to try and get the Active Camouflage technology to be attached to panels that could be placed on my bike. Last time I checked, they were still working on it; however, they did something to have ONI eyeing them dangerously. Oh well, they still owe me quite a bit for pulling them out of more than one hot zone. If it comes down to it, they could always owe me one more when I deal with ONI for them. Currently my bike had woodland camouflage on, twin missile pods, loaded with six missiles each, and had more ammo for both of my rifles.

I jumped on and started up the engine. The bike and my armor quickly synced up and showed me that the bike was ready to roll. I quickly turned it around and gunned it. There was a trail that I used to insert into the operation and now it is the one I'm using to extract. As I followed the trail, going a slow fifty-five mph, I got on the radio.

"Lair, this is Wolf. Target eliminated. Request instructions for extraction," I said calmly.

"Wolf, this is Lair. Extract's position is being uploaded to your HUD. ETA to their arrival at that point is ten mikes," the synthetic voice of the UNSC Liberation's smart AI said.

"Understood, Wolf out," I replied as my HUD received the data and a new NAV marker appeared on my HUD. It was a few hundred klicks distant but I could get there in fifteen minutes tops, if the Covies let me have my breathing space… I looked behind me and saw the blue streaks that accompany a Covie hovercraft. 'Like they would ever be that kind… Time to really open her up,' I thought as I gunned the engine. The speedometer in my HUD jumped to 100 mph as I weaved skillfully around corners and trees that were in my way. Eventually I made it out of the woods and onto a dirt road. Once I got onto the road, I opened the throttle and my speed jumped to one fifty mph. The distance on the NAV marker was falling rapidly. I looked behind me and ducked just as a plasma round from a Ghost went through the air that my head occupied just moments before. I activated the targeting systems of the bike, locked on to the Ghost in front, and let two missiles loose. The missiles shot from the pods, arched around, and aimed for the Ghost. The driver must not have seen the missiles as he focused solely on me. I looked behind me and saw the Ghost get nailed by both missiles and explode.

The resulting explosion took out two more Ghosts and threw one driver out of his seat. I didn't know how many Ghosts were pursuing me, but at least I bought myself some breathing room. I raced ahead and speed up even more. I reached 200 mph and the distance of the NAV dropped to almost ten klicks. I slowed the bike down to about 100 mph and I saw a pelican land about half a klick. I again dropped the speed down to about twenty mph and continued to lower the speed until I reached the Pelican. I positioned the bike underneath the Pelican's tail. The Recon bike then rose up and became attached to the tail of the bird. I felt a plasma round hit me in the back. I fell forward from the force of the hit. I crawled towards the pelican as the Marines on board opened up on the Ghosts that had been following me. The one round that hit me was a lucky shot from a long way off. A Marine helped me to my feet we all got on the Pelican. The Pelican than took off and flew up towards the UNSC Liberation. A Corpsman checked my back.

"Your good. The armor took the hit. The only damage I see is some scuffed paint and about a half an hour's worth of work on buffing," she said.

"Good, I'd hate to be taken off the line now," I said as I took off the sniper rifle and set it down on the floor along with my BR55, "But I now need to pay the Covies another visit to get payment for the half an hour's worth of work buffing and the hour's worth of work cleaning this armor. I think another Field Marshal would do well as payment." A few Marines chuckled at that. I then sat down in one of the seats and took off my helmet. The air in the Pelican felt good on my face. As comfortable as the armor is, there is nothing like taking it off and feeling the world around you with your own five senses. I started to scrap off the mud and grass on my armor, revealing the digital-pattern color of the armor itself.

The armor looks a lot like standard ODST armor, but it was more armored, had the digital/Multi-Cam instead of the urban pattern, and acted like the MJOLNIR armor. However, unlike the MJOLNIR armor, the RODST armor doesn't have shields, the strength and speed enhancements are only about twenty percent at best, the motion sensors aren't as good, we have the mag rails attached to our thigh armor as well as the back, and overall, is weaker than the MJOLNIR armor. We do have a slot in our armor that can have an AI placed in it, but we don't have that AI interface with our neural implants as the Spartans do, although I got some scuttlebutt that says some eggheads are working on that. The RODST armor though is a lot better than the standard ODST armor, though. Like regular ODSTs, we have the VISR mode for our helmets, a health monitor, wireless computer access features, and the like. What we had that they didn't was that our equipment had a better internal computer, and besides just an NVG VISR mode, we also had a Thermal mode. The armor was really advanced, and only issued after the tenth mission was completed by a "rookie" RODST. The armor is also customizable, although not very much. Each RODST is allowed to have a personal icon on their armor and recon bike, but other than that, everything is standard issue.

After I scraped all of the mud and crap off my armor, I set the helmet down on my lap and leaned my head back against the headrest behind me. I closed my eyes and allowed myself to drift off into a combat sleeping state; in other words, I was sleeping but any noise that registered as a possible threat in my mind would wake me up.

I woke up only after I heard a loud thump. I looked out the back of the Pelican as the back hatch opened up and a landing bay from the Liberation appeared. I quickly attached my helmet and jumped down to the deck. My bike was gently dropped down to the deck. I grabbed it, stood it up, and walked it over to the vehicle depot. I dropped it off, along with all of my weapons and ammo there for the techs to take care of and I double-timed it to the bridge. Once the elevator I was on reached the bridge, I walked over towards the Captain and noticed that there was a battle going on between the UNSC Navy and the Covenant. The MACs on the _Liberation_ fired, and two seventy-ton projectiles were sent towards the Covie forces.

The UNSC _Liberation_ was one of the very few UNSC Battleships around. Each could hold an entire Marine division along with weapons, ammo, support equipment, and personnel. She also had four MAC guns, two on the bow, and two on the stern; one on top, and one on the bottom. Each was also turreted and could traverse almost all 360 degrees. Along with the MACs, she had a massive complement of Archer missiles. I had learned the number at one point in time, but never committed the number to memory. Suffice to say, she could go toe-to-toe with three or four Covie ships and come out victorious. The _Liberation_ had sixty meters thick of Titanium-A armor that also has a special type of coolant running through it. Supposedly, that helps when hit by Covie fire. I've never been on the _Liberation _during space-combat so I wouldn't know, but she has always been there to come back to, so something has to be going right. She also has a massive reactor room. Normally a ship has one, but the _Liberation_ has three main reactors, that power everything, and two secondary reactors, one that powers the emergency systems and the last that powers the manufacturing plant. The manufacturing plant was amazing. It could produce all of the equipment used by anyone in the UNSCDF. As long as it had the materials needed, it could even build equipment for the ship itself. The UNSC _Liberation_ was designed from the ground up to be a one-ship invasion force. Too bad, she'll never play that role, as we are always on the back-heel. If we ever do take the fight to the Covies, I'm sure the _Liberation_ would be one of the first ships knocking on the Covies' front door.

The Captain turned around and saw me. I saluted immediately and he returned the gesture.

"Good to have you back Wolf. Things are starting to get really dicey up here. If you were any later, we might not have been able to pick you up-" Captain Jack Horrison said before he was interrupted by Liberty.

"Captain, several new slipspace ruptures detected. Confirmed that they are Covenant reinforcements," Liberty said from the ship's speakers. The AI's holographic pedestal wasn't operating for a reason I never cared to learn, so the usual holographic image of the Statue of Liberty didn't appear.

"I think it's time to get out of here. Initiate a random slipspace jump. Looks like we lost another one…" Captain Horrison said with a sigh.

"Understood, orders from HIGHCOM received. Just as you predicted, it's time to leave," Liberty said. I looked out the window at the planet that we were leaving to the Covenant. 'How many are we leaving behind this time? How many more are we going to lose to these bloody split-lips?' I thought as our ship turned away to jump to slipspace. I then noticed a blue flash streak across the front of the bridge. It was a near miss. Lucky we turned when we did otherwise that plasma torpedo could have taken out the bridge.

"A lot of Covenant fire has been directed at us. I suggest that we get out of here," Liberty said.

"Punch it, Liberty. We need to move," the Captain said as the ship started moving away from the lost system.

"Slipspace drive initiated," Liberty said. Just as we started moving into Slipspace, there was a sudden explosion and we were all slammed to the deck by a massive force. Despite the fact that I was wearing my armor, the force from slamming into the deck knocked me out.


	2. Chapter Two: Welcome to the Lost System

**Response to Reviews:**

Daarb123: Wow, an actual critique! I haven't seen one of those in a long time! Thanks. Anyway, the first two chapters are just going to have a few descriptions in them. After that, not so much. Much more action is just around the corner, and as much as I want to just jump into it…The story does need setting up. Only two more chapters till some action, so just hold on.

**Chapter Two: Welcome to the Lost System, Recon.**

I slowly came back to consciousness. When I opened my eyes, stars were all over my vision. I blinked my eyes several times and slightly shook my head to clear my vision. After my vision came back, I slowly sat up and looked around. I was still on the bridge of the _Liberation_. The emergency lights were on and the entire bridge was bathed in red light. I pushed myself to my feet. I quickly moved over to the Captain to check on him. He was alright, but still unconscious from when he took that spill to the deck. I moved throughout the bridge and checked everyone. A few were starting to get up but for the most part everyone was still knocked out.

"Liberty, you still online?" I asked.

"Affirmative, Lieutenant," Liberty stated.

"What's the condition of the ship?"

"Currently at drift. With some work, we might be able to get full power back, but the Slipspace drive is damaged severely. I fear that we may have to get a new one," Liberty stated, "We currently have minimal power, however that will last us for quite a while and life support is not in danger of failing anytime in the near future."

"Are the intercoms still up?"

"Affirmative,"

"Sickbay, this is the Bridge, First Lieutenant 'Wolf' RODST, temporarily in command. What's your status?" I asked as Liberty keyed the intercom system.

"Sickbay here, we're a little beat up down here, but we are ok," a voice over the intercom replied. With the size of the crew onboard the _Liberation_, memorizing or learning every name of every soldier on board was nearly impossible, if not actually so. I didn't even try beyond those that I work with.

"Get ready to receive casualties. If you can start sweeping the surrounding area, Something tells me your going to be quite busy soon," I said, "Engineering, you boys still with us?"

"Engineering here, where's the Captain?" another voice replied.

"Right here," the Captain's voice said from behind me with a moan of pain.

"Good to have you back, skipper, Sickbay was rattled but they're ok," I said as I held out my hand to help him back onto his feet, "I told them to sweep the area closest to them to pick up casualties, and that I would send as many as I could reach to them."

"Good work, Wolf," the Captain said as he shook his head gently, "I'll take it from here, sweep the area, and provide what help you can. That goes for all nonessential personnel, as well. Move it people we've got casualties." I ran to the door of the bridge and started looking all over the hallways for anyone that was caught in a bad place with that FUBAR jump. That was one of the reasons I like serving on this vessel. That Captain treats everyone as if they were his son. He always looks out for us, but that doesn't stop him from ripping us a new one when we need it.

I came across one regular Marine that had been out in the hall. From the dent in the wall, he was moving after we made the jump. I quickly checked him out. He was alive, but that would definitely be a major hangover when he woke up.

"Liberty, contact Sickbay, tell them I got a head injury case here and I can't move him, in case there is some neck or back injury that I can't find. Give them his location, I need to continue my sweep," I said as I moved on. It took the crew of the Liberty four hours to sweep through the ship and get all of the casualties to Sickbay. I checked through the Marine and ODST barracks and ran into four of the other RODSTs on the _Liberation_ helping Marines and ODSTs out, First Sergeant 'Nomad,' Gunnery Sergeant 'Pyro,' Master Sergeant 'Doc,' and First Sergeant 'Tech.' All four of them were veteran RODSTs, in between ten and twenty-five missions each, and they were all ok. I joined them and we all got the Marines that were up and around sweeping through the ship, and the injured and unconscious to the Sickbay. After that, the five of us left for the Bridge.

When we got to the Bridge, the Captain was walking around, working with the skeleton crew to get the ship back up and running. The Captain noticed the five of us standing by the entrance to the Bridge.

"Captain," I said while I saluted along with the rest of the RODSTs. He returned the salute.

"Well, gentlemen, I will say that we are in deep trouble. The reactors are down, the engines are damaged, and the Slipspace Drive has been destroyed. On top of that, our communications systems are down and we have no clue where we are. The only good things are that the racks are not damaged, and the same goes for the hangers and our weapons," the Captain said as he walked us over to the Bridge's viewport, "as well as that." The Captain pointed to a planet that was nearby, about a few million klicks away. "If we can get over there, Wolf, your job will be to recon it and spot a location that we can use as a base to resupply our stores. Maybe we can extract the materials to rebuild our Slipspace Drive, and comms equipment. The rest of the RODSTs will be on stand-by, in case you run into trouble and need back-up."

"Understood, sir. When do I need to get prepped for a drop?" I asked.

"We don't even know if it is possible for us to live on that planet, Wolf. We'll do as scan of the planet before we attempt a drop. I will let you know when we are a go. Until then try and get this ship back into working order. Pyro, go to the Armory and help out there. Tech, go to Engineering. Get our Reactors back up and running. Nomad, Doc, Sickbay is overwhelmed with the amount of casualties we got, help them out. Wolf, help out with the vehicles. And when you pass Hell's Waiting Room, prep your pod for the mission. Take whatever you need from the Armory, and also prep your bike for a hot drop." We all nodded as we got our assignments. We all separated and ran to our assigned stations. I went with Pyro to the Armory.

The Armory was a mess. Weapons and ammo were thrown all over the place. Pyro immediately went to check on the explosives while the Marines that were stationed at the Armory that where still there, were gathering the weapons and placing them in a pile to be checked for damage. I walked over to a BR55HB that was still attached to the Weapons locker. I grabbed it and attached it to my back. I then walked over to two M7S SMGs that were also still in the weapons locker, and attached them to the mag-rails on my thighs. I then gathered as much ammo as I could for each weapon. I got about thirty clips for the SMGs and twenty for the BR. I also grabbed a silencer for the BR. Once all of my gear was stowed on me, I looked of the man currently in charge of the Armory. I eventually found him and signed all of the gear out. I then nodded my goodbye to Pyro and left the Armory on my way to the vehicle depot.

When I first thought I saw the vehicle depot, I thought that the mess the Armory was in, was spotless compared to this mess. Motor oil was everywhere, vehicle parts were scattered all over the place, even some of the vehicles had been tossed out of their ranks and thrown across the room. There even was a Scorpion that was on the opposite side of the room, and upside down! I let out a sigh and looked around for the Marines that were still in this area along with the Navy pukes that were supposed to be cleaning this area up. I suddenly noticed that the tank was getting flipped back onto its treads. Then the green armor of a Spartan walked around the tank. I then figured out who it was, by stance and how he carried himself. He was Senior Chief Petty Officer Spartan-090.

I was able to peek at the Spartan files once, and saw that his name was David. He's the quite sort of man, and when he says something, he means it. He has an almost sixth sense when it comes to the battlefield to pick out traps, ambushes, snipers, and such. I've worked with him a few times, and each time he pulled my hide out of the fire when the Covies had set up an ambush, or a trap, or even that one freaking split-lip sniper who almost punched my ticket. I swear he's a psychic.

Spartan-090 then started clearing the area around the Tank to allow it to move without damaging anything. I tried to look around for my bike, but decided to give up, as it would be near impossible to find it in the mess. I walked over to the Spartan.

"Need some help, Senior Chief?" I asked as I started to pick up some scattered parts.

-090 grunted in assent and the two of us continued cleaning of the vehicle depot. After six hours of backbreaking work, we finished. I pulled off my helmet, wiped my forehead with a rag that I had picked up, reattached my helmet, and looked around for my bike. I found it and quickly got it prepped. I stuck its weapons on it, but not attached, and took it to Hell's Waiting Room number one-thirteen.

The _Liberation_ has 160 SOEIV racks and the tubes go for about three decks. There are 240 Hell's Waiting Rooms total, along with enough ODSTs and RODSTs to fill every pod. I stored the vehicle near one of the RODST specially designed drop pods. The drop pods that the RODST use are different from the SOEIV pods that the normal ODST use. Our pods are a little safer when it comes to the drops. They have a sturdier hull, which can take a few hits before they crack like the SOEIV pods do in one hit, and better sensor equipment than even an ODST Commander's pod. The boys in command have a name for them, but Recons just like to call them drop pods. Along with the standard drop pod that an RODST can ride down in, there are two other types of drop pods that the RODST use. One is a what we call a supply pod, which as the name says delivers whatever supplies an RODST needs, and the other is a vehicle drop pod, again like the names says it delivers vehicles to the field. The only real difference between the pods is what they carry, and their interiors. Other than that, they look like any other SOEIV.

After I got my bike dropped off at the RODST rack, I went back to the vehicle depot and grabbed more ammo for the missile pods, along with some Archer missiles with some help from -090, and placed them near a supply pod. I packed my drop pod with the supplies I had on me and then double-timed it to the Armory for more. After I loaded up on BR55HB and M7 ammo, I grabbed a S2 sniper rifle, and an M90 shotgun with plenty of ammo and a Spartan Laser with extra batteries. I then hauled all of that back to the supply pod and loaded it up. Since I didn't know what I was going to be facing down there, I wanted to cover all of the bases. After I finished packing all of the weapons and ammo, I took a trip down to Sickbay.

The place was packed. The joke, "There was standing room only," can be used in a literal sense for the state that Sickbay was in. It was packed with wounded. Most of them were not serious, as they just were knocked unconscious, however there were some more serious wounds from debris and such that got thrown around. I walked over to an orderly that was gathering some supplies.

"I need a few med kits made up for a mission," I said. The orderly didn't respond but started to gather other supplies, ones that would fit in a field medical kit. After a few minutes of standing there, he gave me five med kits, fully stocked for whatever could possibly happen on a battlefield. I grabbed them and went back to the RODST rack. I placed two med kits in my pod and the rest in the supply pod. I was now ready to drop into whatever that planet could throw at me. I went over to my drop pod and placed my weapons inside it.

"Liberty, inform the Captain that I'm ready to drop," I said.

"Wolf, this is the Captain," the Captain said over the intercom, "We are about ten mikes away from the planet, we have done enough scans to tell us that the planet should be perfectly useable for our needs. You are cleared to drop, and just a reminder that you need to find us a good base site from which we can start finding the materials that we need. Be careful down there, Wolf."

"Understood Captain, Wolf is ready to drop," I replied as I climbed into my pod. The hatch sealed after I entered it. I sat there and waited. Ten minutes later my pod jerked as it was moved into place for the drop. I then heard the familiar hiss and bang, and felt my pod rocket down to the ground. I watched through the viewport in the pod the new world I was about to drop into. I looked so much like Earth, that I felt slightly homesick. My mind started to drift back to thoughts about my family, but I quickly shook my head and focused on the mission. I started to look at the area and trying to orient myself during the drop. I didn't see any good clearings from the direction I was facing, but I did see a mountain in the distance, so I mentally logged that as a reference point to head to after a while, if I couldn't find any good base locations near my drop point. I then focused on looking at what my drop zone looked like. I then realized I had a major problem coming up at me.

"Trees," I stated plainly, completely without worry or emotion, as my pod smashed into the top of one. My whole world was shaken from impact after impact with the trees in the forest I dropped into. I grabbed onto my harness and held on for dear life, until the final bone-jarring hit that smashed my helmeted head against my pod and knocked me out.


	3. Chapter Three: Hearts and Minds

**Response to Reviews:**

UndeadSamurai01: The bridge thing was a typo. Meant to say "could" instead of "would." However, even if the bridge was destroyed the ship would still function. Only the CO and other high-ranked officers would be dead. The XO/First Mate would still be alive, and he would take command. There is always a secondary "bridge" on any ship. (Trust me, was consulting my father when designing the ship. He served in the US Navy for a while, both as Enlisted and as an Officer). Besides, Wolf is a Marine. He hates naval combat, and would rather be on the ground with a rifle in his hand, than be on a ship during space combat. So he has only heard about how damaging Plasma torpedoes can do, and have seen the destruction only from the ground. One question though, where did you see me saying that the Liberation is ten miles above a planet? I've scoured both chapters trying to find that reference, and I can't find it. If I did say that, then yeah it must have been a typo. For a ship the size of the Liberation, I'd say it would need to be over a hundred miles from a planet to keep from being dragged down by the pull of gravity (and that mostly a guestimate, I'm no scientist, just another grunt).

**Chapter Three: Hearts and Minds…**

I slowly awoke. Normally I am quick to awaken, my head clearing itself of sleep in seconds, but this lingered. I looked at the cracked viewport in my pod and just stared at it for what seemed like hours. Eventually my head cleared of the cotton that was stuffed in it and I started to assess my condition. Other than a dull ache that ran through my entire body, I felt fine. I tried to open the hatch to my pod. The hatch was jammed and wouldn't budge. I shoved at it a few times and kicked at it as well, no luck. I looked through the cracked viewport and saw nothing other than trees.

I hit the buttons to activate the explosive bolts that held the hatch in place. A second later, the hatch blew off the pod and I clambered out. I grabbed the BR55HB out of its storage rack and scanned the area. I attached the weapon to my back as I reached to the back of the pod, grabbed the two M7S's, and attached them to my thighs. I then stripped my pod of all usable equipment. After I slid the last clip into its pocket, I took the BR55 off my back and started sweeping the area. I dropped into a thick forest. This mission was not going to be easy, but at least I wouldn't have to deal with the Covenant.

Suddenly three creatures came out of the woods. They each were holding a crude spear with a stone tip. I looked them over and decided to place me BR55 on my back. They looked like panthers, but the problem was that they were two legged and obviously could use tools. That simple fact made me think that they were sentient. I wondered what they were going to do.

I didn't have to wait long as one of them growled something, and they all lunged at me. I yanked out my knife and slashed through one of the spears, cutting off its tip. The second spear stabbed at me, and I could do nothing about it; however, it glanced off my shoulder armor without leaving even a scratch. I then grabbed the third spear as it was stabbed at me and cut its tip off. The second spear tried again, but this time, I blocked it with my forearm and wrapped my arm around it, locking it firmly in place. I then smashed my other hand into it, breaking the spear in half. I quickly picked up my half of the spear and slammed the tip into the ground. I buried the head into the ground, and buried half the remaining length as well.

That scared them. 'Got to love Shock and Awe,' I thought as they backed off slowly. The one that growled the signaled to attack suddenly dropped to its knees with its ears laid back and its head back, exposing its throat to me. That confused me, but even more so when the two others growled something loudly as they turned around and ran back into the woods. The remaining panther kept its gaze on the sky and its tail still. I sighed and sheathed my knife. I walked over to the panther and helped it to its feet. When I first touched it, it jumped, slightly but other than that, stayed still. When I lifted it up, it resisted slightly, but then stood up. He, if the lack of upper equipment was anything to judge, was my height and seemed like the same build, but it was hard to tell because of the fur. I led him over to my pod. I pulled out two MREs and gave one to the panther. I opened mine and started making the main course, while the panther just stared at the MRE package. I smirk as I gently take the MRE, opened it, and started making the main course. I kept the drink from his MRE since we wouldn't need either of them. When the meals were finished, I gave the meal from the Panther's MRE to him after I opened it and gave him the provided spoon. I opened mine, took off my helmet, and started robotically eating the MRE. My mind shut down and my combat training took over. When I finish it, I checked on the panther and found that he was licking the plastic container. I inwardly laughed at him.

'Man, he really likes these MREs. I don't know anyone who would do that,' I thought as I shake my head. I grabbed the wrapper and gave him the rest of the MRE as I finish up my MRE. He had a little trouble at the start, but once he figured out how to open the packaging, he finished eating before I had. I took all of the wrappers, threw them into the opened MRE bags, stuffed the leftover drink mixes into a pocket, tossed the garbage into my pod for disposal later, and took my BR55 off my back. I thought back to those mountains that I had seen on my way down and decided to check those out.

As I started to walk off, the panther suddenly jumped up and ran in front of me. He said something and grabbed my left arm. He tugged and kept repeating a certain set of sounds, which I took to be words in his language. He seemed to want me to follow him, for whatever reason. He didn't seem hostile, not that he was much of a threat anyway, and so I decided to follow him.

He led me quickly through the forest. He seemed to know exactly where he was and where he was going at all times so I didn't even consider the possibility of getting lost. It seemed that he grew up around here. The next thing I knew, I pushed my way through some thick vegetation and I found myself standing in front of a village of tent-like housing. The panther seemed to be quite happy, but what really caught my attention was the mass of other panther-men standing between the village and me.

Despite the fact I knew I had the advantage of firepower and armor, I still shuddered slightly. I looked over the crowd and noticed that several had pseudo-shirts on besides the loincloth. I guessed that they were women as those shirts seemed to cover something on their chests. Suddenly one of the dressed in, what I swear would be, a shaman's outfit came up and started shacking a rattler-like mini-staff-like-thing at me saying something. I decided to just stand there and let the male panther-man shake his stick at me. After about ten minutes of this, he stops and then turns around. He announces something to the crowd behind them, and suddenly they start cheering.

My level of confusion shot through the roof. 'What's going on here?' I thought as the Shaman turned around and repeated the same words the hunter panther-man did. The Shaman led me through the village, and as we passed other of these panthers, they bowed to me. Again, I was completely confused by their actions, but decided to ignore it, as the Shaman led me out of the village and towards what looked like an old stone shrine of some sort. He led me up to a cave that was in the mountains I had seen earlier. We walked inside and he turned around. He then bowed and swiftly left the cave after saying a few things. Still confused, I set about to make the small cave into a campsite.

As I did so, I took stock of my new "home." There were pictures all over the walls, kind of like caveman drawings. I didn't have time to study all of them, and heard some noise outside the cave. I took most of the equipment I had on me off, and set it down in the middle of the cave. With the two M7S' on my thigh mag-rails and the BR in my hands, I walked outside to investigate.

The entire village seemed to have gathered again. This time they were standing in front of that stone shrine. On it were several baskets of fruit, and next to the shrine was the Shaman, his golden eyes, with the slit pupils of a feline, staring at me. He then turned around and shouted things at the crowd behind him. He then grabbed one of the fruit and held up. After saying a few things, he held it out to me. One glance at his grimy, filthy hands made me want to puke. Then I remembered a few of the fields I had to eat in before, and suddenly, it didn't seem too bad. I put my BR on my back and took off my helmet. I took the fruit from his hand and brought it up to my face. The fruit looked like and orange, but didn't have the same skin. 'I just hope this doesn't kill me,' I thought as I took a bite of the fruit.

It tasted great! Sweet like an apple, but it did have a citrusy, orange-like aftertaste to it. I chewed quickly and swallowed. I smiled and nodded my head in thanks as I took another bite. That seemed to appease the crowd as they cheered again and left back for the village. The Shaman bowed to me and then left. I quickly polished off that one fruit, reattached my helmet, and then grabbed the baskets. 'At least I won't have to live off straight MREs,' I thought as I carried the four baskets of fruit inside my cave.

After I set the fruit down in a corner with the rest of my food supplies, I looked outside at the descending sun. I guessed it was about 2000H and decided to report in to the Captain, if possible.

"Liberty, this is Wolf," I said as I activated my radio

"Good to hear from you Wolf, we were getting worried," comes Liberty's synthetic voice from the radio.

"Sorry about not reporting in sooner. I had a run in with some trees on the drop. By the way, thanks for the nice landing zone, Liberty."

"You're welcome; Captain Horrison wants to talk to you."

"Wolf, glad to see you're still around," came the Captain's voice from the radio.

"Glad to still be around, Captain. Sir, I am currently occupying a cave in a small mountain range, a few klicks from my LZ. Be advised, there are civilians present, non-humans," I said, "They look a lot like panthers, but have two hand, and are able to use tools. I'm currently about half a klick away from their village. They've treated me well so far, but I could use some help trying to communicate with them, sir."

"We'll see what we can do, Wolf, but no guarantees. You may be on your own for this. Let's try not start another war," the Captain said, "Have you located a good location for a base yet?"

"Negative, sir. Not yet. I'll try get these people to help me, but until I can communicate with them, it'll be very slow going," I said.

"Understood Wolf, keep us posted. _Liberation_ out," and with a click, the radio went silent.

I sighed and decided to turn in early. I set up some motion detectors at the cave entrance. I then take off my weapons and ammo, and lay down to get some actual sleep for the first time and a solid two weeks.


End file.
